Barn dance bused-up

Partygoers stranded at Root House, RCMP forced to provide lifts
home

Pemberton’s annual barn dance didn’t quite go off without a
hitch this year.

Last weekend’s festivities closed on a sour note when hundreds
of partygoers were left stranded on the side of the road in the wee hours of
the morning. Many had paid $10 to Glacier Coach Lines to be shuttled to and
from the event.

Joel Wilson, owner of Glacier Coach Lines, said buses were
scheduled to leave Whistler at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. and pick people up from the
dance, which was at the Root House on Pemberton Meadows Road, at midnight
and 1 a.m.

“We did all of our trips that we were booked and paid for, and
we did every single trip, and on time,” said Wilson.

He said two 47-passenger buses and two 20-passenger buses were
used to transport people to and from the party. Wilson said there simply wasn’t
enough room for the number of people who attended the party.

He added he is out pocket from the evening.

Glacier had buses working at a wedding about 10 kilometres just
down the road, and Wilson said when his drivers tried to pass the people
waiting outside of the barn dance, the “mob” got angry and attacked his
vehicles, causing over $7,000 in damage.

“We will never, ever do the barn dance again. We will be going
after Pemberton Chamber of Commerce,” said Wilson.

Mark Blundell is vice-president of the Pemberton Chamber of
Commerce, one of the four organizations that teamed up to organize the 12
th
annual barn dance.

Blundell said there were communication problems between
organizers and the bus company, and he is not sure who is to blame for the
problem. But he points out that in past years, organizers have arranged for bus
service until 2 a.m.

“It would be very, very unlikely that we would enter into an
agreement where we didn’t have service until at least two o’clock in the
morning,” he said.

Blundell said bus service is important for an event like the
barn dance, because it is held in an isolated area and organizers don’t want
people drinking and driving.

“From the Chamber’s point of view, to put a function on that
huge and not recognize that safety is a factor would be irresponsible of us,
and I don’t think that happened,” said Blundell.

Cpl. Paul Vadik of Sea to Sky RCMP said dealing with the
aftermath from the barn dance was a huge problem.

“It was quite a difficult time for the police to manage — over
400 drunk people, drunk and upset that the buses they were promised weren’t
there and (they) were basically stranded.”

Cpl. Vadik said he isn’t impressed with the situation — and
this isn’t the first year that transportation has been an issue with the annual
Pemberton Barn Dance.

In previous years, “they just didn’t have adequate buses at the
end of the night and it’s becoming a huge problem for the police.”

Police and volunteers ended up loading people into the back of
pickup trucks and police cruisers to get them from the venue, which is about 15
kilometres from the village of Pemberton.

“The police aren’t in the business of being taxis,” said Cpl.
Vadik.

Blundell said he understands that police are unhappy about the
breakdown in transportation, and plan to sit down with the RCMP and the bus
company to figure out what went wrong, and how the problem can be resolved for
next year.

Cpl. Vadik said officers went above and beyond to ensure that
people had a safe way home, but that they shouldn’t have to get involved in
transportation issues.

“We had to divert our resources to manage the closing of the
barn dance and the people left stranded when we could have been out doing
roadblocks in strategic places and catching impaired drivers.”

Despite the significant transportation issues, Blundell said
the event was a huge success, with approximately 1,200 people in attendance,
and almost $30,000 raised.